Growing dissatisfaction among physicians regarding inadequate work-life balance and increased administrative demands are causing many doctors to reconsider the way they work. Most notably, many are switching to direct primary care practices. For some, this business model reduces or completely eradicates the stresses that come with maintaining their practices.
But what are the benefits of making the switch to direct primary care from a physician’s point of view?
Let’s get started with the positives and how switching to direct primary care as a physician can improve your business but also your personal life.
1. More Time With Your Patients
As a doctor, one of the major reasons you go into health care is because you want to make positive changes in people’s lives.With regular health care options, you can often be inundated with patients or swamped with paperwork that leaves you with little to no time to actually spend with them.
With direct primary care, on the other hand, you have the benefit of being able to get to know your patients and reassure them that you are doing everything in your power to make sure they are OK.
2. You’ll Have Less Paperwork
Like we mentioned above, imagine a life with a reduced amount of paperwork. Wouldn’t that be a dream? With direct care, you can actually make this a reality. This lack of paperwork means you’ll most likely be able to work fewer hours, therefore providing you with a much healthier work-life balance.
3. You’ll Have More Professional Satisfaction
This benefit goes hand in hand with spending more time with your patients. When you’re able to really give your time to someone, you’ll feel an immense sense of gratitude, satisfaction, and achievement, knowing that you’ve spent this time with a patient in their time of need.
There’s also a study that reveals job satisfaction is strongly linked with psychological and mental health issues, as well as physical health symptoms, too. It concluded that the happier people are in their job (i.e., a higher job satisfaction), the healthier their mental and physical health is.
4. You’ll Have a Better Work-Life Balance
At the end of the day, life shouldn’t just be about working. You should have a healthy balance whereby you can enjoy a substantial amount of ‘you’ time. Because let’s face it. The life of a doctor is very fast-paced and demanding, and if you are constantly working and feeling under pressure, you will not be able to perform your best. This can not only affect the welfare of your patients and put your professional career in jeopardy, but it can also interfere with your own mental well-being if you are not experiencing enough downtime.
If this is something that is genuinely a big problem in your work life and could affect your future, making the change to direct primary care could be a big help. With less paperwork and stress to deal with, you’ll have more time you’re ready to dedicate to your friends, family, and hobbies.
Bottom Line
As a physician, you know that your day-to-day life can often be very stressful, overwhelming, and demanding, and there is so much pressure put on healthcare staff to deliver top-notch service. Direct primary care is a viable option if you want to treat your patients with the time and patience they deserve and achieve a much healthier work-life balance.
Because patients directly pay their doctors and physicians an annual or monthly fee for their healthcare, the system cuts out the middle man. It allows patients to receive more time with their healthcare professionals and have a more accessible means of communication. So, we think it’s a win for all parties.
